Air Raid Sirens Heard In Kyiv As African Leaders Begin Peace Mission

Wires report that at least two explosions were heard in Kyiv and air sirens went off as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Senegalese President Macky Sall, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, as well as lower-ranked representatives for Egypt and the Comoros arrived in Kyiv for the first leg of their "road to peace" mission. Reuters reported that the leaders were taken to a hotel to use its air-raid shelter.

• In the meantime, Polish authorities granted take-off clearance to SAA A340-300 charter flight carrying more than a hundred South African security officials deployed to protect President Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as a group of South African journalists accompanying the peace mission. The plane will now head from Warsaw to Rzeszow, which serves as a gateway to Ukraine.
• In is unclear what were the exact reasons for keeping scores of South Africa's high-ranking military and security personnel stranded at the airport for hours while their President left for Ukraine. News24 reported that it was due to "different government departments squabbling over who should pay the costs of the excursion," while other reports pointed to problems with necessary paperwork for the transport of weapons.
• Following their anticipated meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later today, the African leaders are expected to head to St. Petersburg, where they will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.